Clothes-line tightener.



D. M. WINANS.

CLOTHES LINE TIGHTBNER.

APPLIOATION FILED MA.E.27, 1914.

1,103,722. Patented July 14,1914.

.H r N a1 H M TH: NORRIS PETERS ca, WASHINGTON, n. c. v

mosses.

TED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL 1VI. WINANS, 0F BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 WINANS MACHINE 00., 0F BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CLOTHES-LINE TIGI-ITENER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, -DANIEL M. VVINANs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Binghamton, in the county of Broome and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes- Line Tighteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes line tighteners. I

My ob ect is to provide a simple, efliclent and inexpenslve tightener for endless clothes lines which will be adapted for quick and easy operation to tighten or loosen the line, will be capable of swinging in any direction and of being tightened however it may be positioned and which will be strong and durable and adapted for quick and easy attachment to any object such as a house or post.

The invention consists, first, of a clothes line tightener adapted to swing to different angles in relation to the house or post to which it is attached and adjustable in any position to tighten or loosen the clothes line; second, a'clothes line tightener which embodies a pivoted pulley or sheave carrying arm or lever and a pivoted locking rack adapted to cotiperate therewith to hold the lever in different positions to which it may be adjusted; further, in a clothes line tightener embodying an upright brace which is swiveled to its means for attachment to the post or house, an upwardly and downwardly swinging arm or lever pivoted to the brace and carrying a sheave or pulley, and a free gravity locking rack pivoted to the brace and adapted to engage a pin or pawl on the arm or lever.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is set forth fully hereinafter and shown in the accompanying drawings, but I do not limit myself to the details of con struction disclosed except where so stated in the claims.

It is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to use in connection with clothes lines, but may be applied to any line or rope which it is desired to tighten.

In the accompanying drawingsrFigure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a plan view; and Fig. 8, an end elevation.

The device is attached to a post or wall of a building by angular brackets 1 having Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 27, 1914.

Patented July 14, 1914.

Serial No. 827,668.

holes 2-for the reception of nails or screws. The brackets are arranged one above the other when the device is in position. A brace 3 having ears 4 and 5 at its respective ends is provided with feet 6 which are pivotally connected or swiveled to the outstanding parts of the brackets 1 by means such as shown at 7, consisting of bolts or rivets, preferably the latter, said rivets passing loosely through holes in the brackets and the parts 6. The brackets having been secured to the building or post with the brace 3 in substantially vertical position, the entire tightener may be swung on the rivets 7 as a pivot to any desired angle so that the clothes line may be arranged laterally as desired. Vertical adjustment of the pulley can also be had as will now appear. Pivoted to the ears 4: by any suitable means such as a bolt or rivet 8 is the pulley-carrying arm or lever 9 which is composed of flat members 10. A rivet or fastening 11. which passes through the bars 10 constitutes the hearing or journal for the sheave or pulley 12 around which the endless clothes line 13 passes. One of the bars 10 is eX- tended beyond the pulley 12 to form a free handle 14 which can be readily grasped for the purpose of swinging the entire device laterally or vertically.

To hold the lever 9 in any position to which it may be raised or depressed, within certain limits, and while the device is swung to any lateral position, I provide a rack 15 which is suitably pivoted by a rivet 16 to the ears 5, the remaining portion of the rack being free and having teeth 16 which are adapted to engage a fixed pawl, stud or lug 17 carried by the lever 9 and preferably bridging and connecting the bars 10. The extreme end of the rack 15 has a stop 18 of sufficient length to overhang the bars 10 and prevent the lever 9 from being disengaged from the rack 15 by too great upward swinging of said lever. The rack 15 preferably passes between the bars 10.

When it is desired to loosen the clothes line, the rack 15 is disengaged from the stud or lug 17 and the handle 14 grasped to lift the lever 9 to the desired extent. To tighten the clothes line, it is only necessary to grasp the handle 14 and press downward, whereupon the rack 15 will, by its gravitation, cause the proper tooth 16 to lock with the pawl 17 and resist the tendency of tne line 13 to throw the lever 9 upwardly. The rack 15, brace 3 and lever 9 all swing laterally together as an entirety, thereby permitting the pulley to be positioned laterally as desired and to be adjusted up or down in whatever lateral position it may assume.

-I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a clothes nation with a swiveled or pivoted brace, of an arm or lever pivoted to said brace and adapted for up and down movement and for bodily movement laterally with said brace, and a rack pivoted to the brace and having teeth adapted to engage the arm or lever to hold it in different positions of its up and down adjustment. 1

2. In a clothes line tightener, the combination with attaching brackets, of abrace swiveled thereto, a lever pivoted to one part of the brace, a pulley or sheave carried by the lever, a rack pivoted to another part of the brace and having teeth adapted to adjustably engage the lever, said brace, lever and rack constituting a triangle or truss,

line tightener, the combiand being adapted for bodily swinging as a unit.

3. In a clothes linetightener, the .combination with attaching brackets, ofi' a" brace swiveled thereto'and provided with ears at its upper and lower parts, a lever composed of parallel bars pivoted to one set of ears of said brace, a sheave or pulley carried by and located between said bars of the lever, one of said bars extending freely beyond the sheave or pulley and serving as an operating handle, a pawl or stud connecting the bars of the lever, and a toothed rack pivoted to the other set of ears of the brace, said rack having its free part lying between the bars andits teeth adapted to engage the stud or pawl and being provided on its free end with a stop, the lever, brace and rack constituting a triangle or truss and being laterally movable as a unit with the handle and sheave or pulley.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL MVWINANS. lVitnesses:

C. E. TITCHENER, CHAs. R. OCONNELL,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. G. 

